Highway Commission OKs Spending Cuts

The state Highways and Transportation Commission gave a five-year highway spending plan final approval today in Frontenac. The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program includes $1.6 billion spent next year, but only $700 million in 2011. Highways commission chairman Bill McKenna says taxpayers will need to address the issue sooner rather than later. Program planners blame the decreased spending on the rising cost of road and bridge materials and inflation. Improving Missouri highways and bridges makes up most of the five-year plan with $5.7 billion in spending. On the Net: MoDOT: http://www.modot.mo.gov